"Bye Bye Nerdy" is the 11th episode of season 2 and is the 25th episode overall of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends.
Plot[]
SPOILER: Plot details follow.
After beating Mac's high score in a video game, Bloo goes to rub it in his face at school but is horrified when he comes to the conclusion that Mac is a nerd. When Mac arrives, Bloo quickly works to make Mac cool, but none of their ideas work. Just as Mac says he doesn't care about being cool, the coolest kid in the school, Jamez Withazee, tells him that the fact that he doesn't want to be cool makes him cool and invites him to "The Rock". Since Mac takes up this offer and is not at Foster's at 3 o' clock, Mr. Herriman is very quick to ensure that Bloo gets adopted, but in the end Bloo makes it to The Rock and gets made fun of by all of the kids, which makes Mac stand up for him and realize that being cool isn't everything.
Spoilers end here.
Trivia[]
- This episode shares the same name of an episode of The Simpsons, but "Nerdy" is instead spelled as "Nerdie".
- Mac breaks the fourth wall about addressing improper lip syncing.
- This marks the only appearance of Jamez Withazee.
- On HBO Max, the theme song for the episode is shortened to 30 seconds. This is the only non-special episode on the service to have a shortened theme song.
Cultural references[]
- The episode title is a pun on the Broadway musical, Bye Bye Birdie.
- The video game that Bloo beat Mac in is a parody of Asteroids.
- The friends being worried that Mac fell down a well (or three) is a reference to a common misconception about Lassie. In none of the episodes of the classic TV show involve Timmy falling down a well.
- The basketball player shown on TV wears a yellow-and-purple jersey with the number 8 on it, referencing the late Lakers player Kobe Bryant.
- Mac points out that Bloo's magazines were from the year 1987. This could be referencing the 2004 romantic comedy film, 13 Going on 30, a film Mac's voice actor, Sean Marquette, appeared in. He plays the younger version of Matt, and the year he was in was 1987.
- The line "It's a 106 blocks to Mac, I've got a full bladder, half an idea where I'm going, it's Tuesday, and I'm wearing sunglasses.", followed by Frankie saying, "Hit it!", is a reference to the 1980 movie The Blues Brothers, where Elwood says, "It's a 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark and we're wearing sunglasses.", then Jake says, "Hit it!".
Goofs[]
- Continuity-wise, this episode contradicts a previous episode of season 2, "Bloo's Brothers". In the beginning of that episode, Mac takes Bloo to school for a show and tell presentation. The kids love Bloo so much and cheer for Mac's presentation. Afterwards, many kids from Mac's class and school start to imagine their own versions of Bloo. The reason why it appears that this episode contradicts that one is due to the fact that in this episode, in the moment when the kids from Mac's school meet up to see Mac and Jamez hanging out at The Rock, Bloo then arrives only to be mocked by the kids. When Mac defends Bloo from mockery, they mock Mac for having an imaginary friend and call him a "nerd". In regard to plot continuity, it should be assumed that those from Mac's school should already know about Bloo and not mock Mac for it, especially since they themselves thought Bloo was cool in that episode and had imagined their own variations of Bloo. Instead, all the kids assume that Mac is a nerd for having an imaginary friend, when they all also imagined friends resembling Bloo. The two episodes together appear to not add up.